After several complaints made by sympathetic Israeli paratroopers to a Jewish human rights group called Yesh Din, the Israeli "Defense" Force (IDF) has announced that it will discontinue its practice of "capturing" populated Palestinian villages during military training exercises. The IDF states it will "reexamine their policy" of conducting such raids on uninformed, panic-stricken Palestinian villages.

Let us reflect upon this announcement for a moment and consider its implications. Most of us living in the United States have never been flushed from our own homes and rounded up in the streets during military training exercises conducted by a foreign military that is illegally occupying our neighborhoods with tanks, bulldozers and shelling us from overhead with their air force. In fact, if this were done to us even once, most of us would probably arm ourselves as stipulated in the Constitution, and we would attempt to protect ourselves and our families from future illegal military ambushes.

The Palestinians, however, are not permitted such reasonable steps toward self-protection. The Israeli military incursions into their neighborhoods, both deadly as well as "practice" runs, are being carried out daily and nightly without cessation, and Palestinians are not permitted to "resist" any barbaric treatments given to them by Israel, nor are the Palestinians permitted to fight back or protect themselves or their families. The few who have fought back have been immediately labeled by the mainstream press as "Resistance Fighters," or "Militants," or "Extremists," or "Terrorists." More recently numerous Palestinians are simply being referred to as "Wanted" during midnight incursions into their neighborhoods where Israeli troops have arrested hundreds, including children who have been pulled from their beds by soldiers. An estimated 11,000 men, women, children, babies born in prison, and the elderly are currently being held in inhumane Israeli jails at this time, some without charges, others without legal counsel, and babies without access to sunlight. (1) (2)

The announcement by the IDF means that just out of sight and out of hearing range of the rest of the world, the US-backed Israeli military, which is one of the deadliest on earth, has been trespassing and terrorizing uninformed, unarmed Palestinian citizens in their own villages--simply because it can. That the Zionists have been arrogantly using the convenient population of Palestinian civilians as living targets should be cause for international outrage and enormous outcry. And yet, thanks to the efforts of a lying, distorting mainstream media, most Americans, including our Zionist leaders as well as future hopefuls, continue to embrace the lie that Israel operates only as an innocent "defense" force against the Palestinians who, they declare, "are terrorists."

Distortion of the facts would now seem to have reached its highest possible point, but distortion has been brought to an even higher level by our US Zionist president, who recently made the following statement in which he illustrated the differences between Palestinian values and the superior values and moralities of the US and Israeli: "that in the face of extremism and violence, we stand on the side of tolerance and decency. In the face of chaos and murder, we stand on the side of law and justice. And in the face of terror and cynicism and anger, we stand on the side of peace in the Holy Land." (3) (4)

Although the Israeli military states it was not using live fire in the "dry run" graduation exercises of paratroopers trained to "capture" villages, the training exercises not only sparked expected panic among the targeted Palestinians, but unnecessarily endangered lives. Attorney for Yesh Din, Michael Sfard, has requested that a criminal investigation be carried out, but according to an article in Haarezt news, military Advocate General Brigadier General Avihai Mandelblit rejected this request, stating that no crime had been committed. (5)

It would appear that Palestine and the Palestinians have long been viewed as an open opportunity waiting to be freely exploited by the Zionists. They have exploited the Palestinians for sixty years without regard or concern for the human costs and suffering endured by the Palestinians. In 1948, when Israel declared itself a "Jewish-only" state within the land of Palestine, the popular slogan coined by Zionists was that Palestine was "a land without people for a people without a land." The slogan suggested that Palestine was a barren, vacant land, uninhabited by people, and awaiting people from other countries to come and populate it. Again, with the help of the distorting mainstream media, which continues to give us everything but the truth, most readers did not realize that this slogan was at best a lie, and at worst a brazen example of one group claiming that another group of people did not qualify as "people," and therefore did not exist.

The so-called "uninhabited" land of Palestine was in fact inhabited by almost one million Palestinians who were then brutally forced from their ancestral homes as Zionists began confiscating for themselves, chunks of Palestine piece by piece. The Palestinians' homes and lands have been and are being given to new Zionist "settlers"--immigrants from elsewhere who have displayed at times a tendency toward violence, and whose presence and violence have helped to further destroy Palestine.

Sixty years after becoming a state within Palestine, Israel continues to be a noncontiguous state, its map showing it to have pockmarked the Palestinian countryside with numerous Israeli settlement camps, while the Palestinians continue to be refugees in their own land and victims of whatever plans the Israelis might have next. As I write this, Gaza Strip, which Israel has completely cut-off from the rest of the world and has transformed it into the largest prison camp on earth, is suffering from an enormous power outage. With a population of 1.5 million, reportedly half of the Gazans are now without electricity, and unless Israel "allows" the Gaza borders to be reopened so that fuel can reach Gaza, there will be a complete power blackout. (6) (Post Script note: Israel "allowed" a border into Gaza to open after three days of outage--mary.)

While some currently offer a revisionist claim that "there is no Palestine, and there are no Palestinians" (arising in part from a frequently misquoted statement attributed to Golda Meir), such a claim merely speaks of a vicious holocaust denial that is worse than any other type of holocaust denial on the planet, because this is a denial not of the past, but it is denial of an ethnic cleansing that is happening this very hour. If "there are no Palestinians," then who are these people who continue to cry out to the world for help and humanitarian intervention after sixty years? If there were "never any Palestinians," as some arrogantly claim, why does the Old Testament contain almost 300 references toPalestine and the Philistines, beginning with Genesis? If there are no Palestinians, why did someone we refer to as "Jesus" appear in the Holy Land 2000 years ago and curiously select twelve Palestinians as disciples to receive his teachings?

Now, however, and at least since 1948, it appears that Palestine exists only in the minds of some as a land to be taken away from its true inhabitants and caretakers. Palestine seems to be a land meant to be divided up, chopped into pieces, and cordoned off by huge apartheid walls. Worse, it becomes now glaringly apparent that the Palestinian people exist in the minds of some for the sole purpose of being used as target practice, or for military training exercises--as well as for inhumane experiments in torture, starvation, imprisonment, and unrestricted, endless oppression. Such criminal acts are justified by the US and Israeli Zionist leaders who dare to look at fleeing, panic-stricken, starving civilians, and claim that they see nothing, they see no one, they see no people, and therefore they acknowledge no crime against humanity.

Who are the true caretakers of this Land that has been called Holy by most of the entire world? Who, one might ask, were the ones who lovingly tended ancient olive groves for generation after generation in Palestine? Who were the shepherds who cared for family flocks of sheep and goats in relative peace with their neighbors of various religions until the Zionists took their lands, their pastures, their flocks and killed the shepherds? Who planted the sweet oranges? Who were the fishermen living in simple freedom until Zionists from other countries claimed Palestine as their new homeland?

One is reminded of the story of King Solomon and the two women who came to Solomon, both claiming to be the mother of the same baby. This is my son, one woman claimed, but the other woman claimed that the baby was her son. In his wisdom, Solomon said, "bring me a sword." He instructed his attendants to cut the child in half, dividing it into two parts, and to give half to one woman, and half to the other woman.

The woman who had no real love, respect, or ties to this child eagerly agreed to witness the child being cut in half. But the other woman protested this. She could not bear to see the child destroyed. Solomon considered this and said, this woman who has protested the destruction of this child, she is the real mother. Give the child to her.

There are two groups of people now claiming that Palestine is theirs, and that they are the true caretakers. While one group of people has used tanks and bulldozers to destroy the ancient orchards and groves of Palestine, the other group has been protesting the destruction of this land and her people for sixty years. While only one group has wept real tears for the old olive trees now lying uprooted and burned, the other group claiming to be the rightful Zionist caretakers, has used its tanks and bulldozers to shell and destroy even more of Palestine, demolishing homes and gardens, farms, taking flocks and killing the Palestinian refugees. In addition to what the people in Gaza have been enduring for decades, this afternoon Israeli bulldozers destroyed many acres of Palestinian agricultural land in the West Bank. (7) (8)

The group that has been mourning Palestine's destruction also once had many fishermen who helped provide food for the people living in the Holy Land. But, the other group--the claimants who have the army, the air force, and the navy--now fire upon the unarmed fishing boats, and that same navy has restricted the Palestinian fishermen to shallow waters where the fishing is not very good. They have restricted the fishermen in the same manner that the US-backed Israeli army and air force have restricted Palestinian air space, land boundaries, border crossings, communications, food and medical supplies, money flow, and travel within Palestinian territories. Many of the people in Gaza are now starving and the children are malnourished and surviving on bread and tea.

The same group claiming ownership of the Holy Land--the caretakers who have the mighty sword of the army, the navy and the air force--have also bulldozed scenic hilltop areas in Palestinian-owned lands, and constructed illegal, disfiguring Israeli settlement camps upon them. Raw sewage runs down from some of their lofty, Zionist hilltop settlement camps into the Palestinian valleys below, thus turning what was once the world's Holy Land, into an open cesspool. (9) (10 (11) (12)

The Zionist claimant of ownership of the Holy Land has overpowered the other, and through brute force has taken this once beautiful land and sliced it apart, maiming it and then it has constructed enormous apartheid walls throughout it. In the Holy Land, the sun no longer sets upon distant horizons where those of many religions once came to gaze in awe and to wonder if this splendor was the work of God's own hands. In the Holy Land, the sun now rises late and sets early upon high, cold gray walls beyond which no one can see anything, at all. With Zionists as the current caretakers of Palestine, there are no more horizons of hope and splendor in the Holy Land. There are only miles and miles of Walls, destruction, despair, protests and mourning. This is the "side of peace in the Holy Land," on which the US Zionist leaders claim to be standing. They are backing it all up with billions of US tax dollars, and a recent resolution promises $30 billion more.

We cannot see beyond the walls with our eyes. We can only see what is now before us--our Holy Land in the aftermath of having been sliced in half by a mighty and emotionless sword, and then sliced into even smaller pieces, and handed over to the Zionist caretakers from other countries who never truly had any love, respect, or ties to it. Behold our new Holy Land. (13) (14) (15) (16) (17)

In a recent article by Paul Craig Roberts, distinguished author and editor, we were reminded of the words of Admiral Thomas Moorer, formerly Chief of Naval Operations and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Admiral Moorer said that he had never seen any American President stand up to the Israelis, and that they always get what they want.

Perhaps this fear to act stems from the repeated ridiculous warning that criticizing Israel is the equivalent of "anti-Semitism." In fact, it is the Palestinians who are the Semites. Those behind the political claims that Palestine is theirs, are Zionists who have used the Star of David and posed as Semites in order to achieve their goals. They are a secular, ambitious, political group who are not Semites at all, and because many of them are atheists, they have shown no real love, respect, or ties to Judaism, or to any other religion--hence, the tragic condition of our Holy Land at this time.

It appears that the largely secular Zionists have infiltrated Judaism, Christianity, all of the mainstream media, the TV entertainment industry, publishing houses, US education, libraries, all of Hollywood and every branch of the US Government and their influence can also be seen in the formation of the EU and now the proposed NAU. They seem to be on an unstoppable path toward world domination, recognized by certain traits such as destruction of borders, properties and identities; wanton disregard for individual human rights; banning or blocking democratic or self-governing principles.

It appears that all which has been done to the Palestinians and our Holy Land has been a "training exercise" for what the Zionists now have planned for the rest of the world. The Zionist coup is underway, and it is one that will destroy all freedoms, all rights, and all individual sovereignty while the Zionists continue to deliver speeches in which they claim to be standing for law, justice, and peace. They will expect our applause, but Zionism and its deification of an elite, privileged few must be stopped.

The definition of "Palestinian" became clear to me as I wrote this paper. Palestinians are an unrecognized people, in an unrecognized state, and an unrecognized nation, with unrecognized human rights, and no right to even exist. No one recognizes them, and yet, they are the only people on this earth who are doing what the most powerful man on earth (i.e., the US president) is afraid of doing: the Palestinians are standing up to the Zionists. After sixty years, they have not given up in their largely nonviolent protests against the Z monster, and their nonviolent Gandhi-like protests have been something that until recently, the world knew nothing about. (18) (19) (20)

In studying their protests and their passion, hearing of their conditions of hunger and thirst and homelessness, and now hearing from Palestinian friends that darkness is surrounding them, a thought began to rise up within me like a beacon over which darkness has no claim. Perhaps, I thought, it is the Palestinians who are meant to be the ones who will lead the world to peace--not the warring governments, not the elected versus the non-elected, not the Hamas or the Fatah--but the long-suffering Palestinian people, themselves. Perhaps, this is the destiny of the Palestinians, a destiny set into motion 2000 years ago when, for reasons never explained to the rest of the world, the Messiah appeared in the Holy Land and he selected twelve Palestinians as his disciples.

On the afternoon when I wrote this, the simplicity and veracity of it all overwhelmed me, and I pledged myself to be one with the Palestinians. I wrote of this to a Palestinian friend of mine, saying, "On this day, I too have become a Palestinian. I hope you do not mind."

My friend, who is Muslim I believe--we have never discussed religion--wrote back from Occupied Jerusalem and said, "We welcome you to our country and our people, because Palestinians represent the oppressed all over the world. I am saying this because injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."

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Mary sparrowdancer is the author of a bestselling book, "The Love Song." www.sparrowdancer.com She is a follower of the teachings of Jesus, i.e., human rights and civil liberties, and she was ordained in 1988. She is not a "Christian," because Christianity is based upon the teachings of Paul, the only self-declared apostle who was never selected as a disciple by Jesus. (Hence, beware of Paul's teachings in Romans 13, suggesting we "submit to authority.") Reach her here (she neither reads nor responds to insulting or disrespectful emails): sparrowdancer 1 at earthlink dot net.

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I hate it when they say, "He gave his life for his country." Nobody gives their life for anything. We steal the lives of these kids. We take it away from them. They don't die for the honor and glory of their country. We kill them."-- Admiral Gene LaRocque